Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Cheney and Gonzales Indicted on Abuse of Prisoners in TEXAS (of all places!)


OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!


We've Been Waiting For Something Like This for EIGHT years!! Praise Jesus! Praise the Goddess Justitia! (and I never thought I'd say this)
Praise Texas!

(From Think Progress.com)

A South Texas grand jury has returned multi-count indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County’s federal detention centers:

The indictment accuses Cheney and Gonzales of engaging in organized criminal activity. It criticizes Cheney’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers.


It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees by working through the prison companies. Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.
Of course, you know they'll walk away from the indictment scott free! But Who Cares? It's a step in the right direction! It may open up indictments from other states. And from other countries!!

Could the next indictment be against someone whose last name begins with a "B"?
Oh PLEASE! Pretty please! Pretty Please with chocolate on it! Anything!

Karma, please don't stop it! Buddha, meditate on a continuum! Energizer Bunny! Just everything, everyone, keep going! Time is precious now. If anyone has anything on this vile administration, release it NOW!


Focus On The Family In Need Of Cash? Will Nancy Pelosi Bailout James Dobson?


Maybe It Could Borrow Some Money From
The Mormons!


(Colorado Independent)
... reports that Focus on the Family “is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today.” The layoffs come after the right-wing group spent more than $600,000 to defeat marriage equality in California. Praising the passage of Prop. 8, the group said that the measure “helps protect millions of children from radical indoctrination in the homosexual lifestyle.” The group also touted its involvement collecting signatures and gathering donations, patting itself on the back for being “integrally involved” in the fight against marriage equality.
Something's not right: a mere pittance of $600,000 is causing the non-denominational pseudo religious Focus on the Family to "major layoffs?" Gimme a break! This is an entity that has its own lobby in Washington, for chrissakes! Did its zealousness in denouncing gay marriage cost them more than $600,000? Does this building in Colorado Springs look like a corporation on the verge of bankruptcy? (Bad architecture is always a sign that your prayers and donations are safe) Although when I first saw the picture, it reminded me vaguely of the Disney character Goofy, it looks like a fairly healthy media empire and "ministry." FOF spends that much on one of its fundraising letters!

Note to Senator Charles Grassley: keep a close eye on this one.

But then there's this piece of news from MinistryWatch, the organization that (among other things) rates the transparency of ministries:
Some observers interpret Dr. Dobson’s reduced role (he recently resigned as president) as a sign that FOF is preparing for his eventual departure. With donations already taking a slight downturn (FOF has recently made reductions in its operating expenses leading to staff layoffs and program cutbacks), many people are concerned about the long-term future of FOF.

Financial Ratios Database Average 2006 2005 2004 2003
Fundraising Cost Ratio 6% 7% 8% 8% NA
Contributions Reliance 83% 91% 91% 93% NA
Spending Ratio 97% 103% 107% 97% NA
Program Output Ratio 78% 87% 90% 80% NA
Degree of L-T Investment 3.36 4.43x 5.35x 6.43x NA
Current Asset Turnover 4.88 6.82x 8.12x 7.96x NA

Hmmm. Maybe instead of trying to deal with a logical and sensible way, we can BANKRUPT all the Christofascists!
Of course, FOF's shenanigans have been almost as ridiculous as Pat Robertson's 700 Club:
Focus on the Family Action pulled a video from its Web site today that asked people to pray for "rain of biblical proportions" during Barack Obama's Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field at Mile High to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, said the video he wrote and starred in was meant to be "mildly humorous."

Here's also a very good path of logic: Why Focus On The Family Is Of The Devil.

Bankrupting the corrupt churches and hate groups. I know, it's wishful thinking. Thinking back, however, when Christianity came into power, all of the pagan temples were turned into churches - or brothels. Both sound businesses and guaranteed money-makers. So if Focus on the Family DOES fail, we have some options concerning its real estate!

Just a thought!

A short video on how Dobson fired his workers: